Groupon Inc (GRPN) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 43,095,476 shares, a growth of 18.9% from the November 15th total of 36,243,208 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 7,827,223 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.5 days. Approximately 10.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

In other Groupon news, CAO Brian Stevens sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.71, for a total value of $114,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 222,354 shares in the company, valued at $1,269,641.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eric P. Lefkofsky sold 1,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.77, for a total transaction of $8,655,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,570,000 shares of company stock worth $9,023,950 over the last quarter. Insiders own 23.40% of the company’s stock.

Get Groupon alerts:

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GRPN. Aperio Group LLC grew its stake in Groupon by 4.6% during the second quarter. Aperio Group LLC now owns 28,844 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Groupon by 33.7% during the second quarter. Schwab Charles Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,978,469 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $7,598,000 after acquiring an additional 498,238 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in Groupon by 24.9% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 39,212 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $151,000 after acquiring an additional 7,813 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Groupon by 1.8% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,449,707 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $5,567,000 after acquiring an additional 25,642 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA grew its stake in Groupon by 234.9% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 51,877 shares of the coupon company’s stock valued at $199,000 after acquiring an additional 36,388 shares in the last quarter. 60.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Groupon from $5.00 to $5.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Gabelli assumed coverage on shares of Groupon in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company. TheStreet raised shares of Groupon from a “d” rating to a “c-” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Vetr raised shares of Groupon from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6.09 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, December 4th. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $4.08 price objective (down from $4.50) on shares of Groupon in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Groupon currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.02.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) opened at $5.55 on Wednesday. Groupon has a 52 week low of $2.90 and a 52 week high of $5.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Groupon (NASDAQ:GRPN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The coupon company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $634.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $642.62 million. Groupon had a negative net margin of 2.97% and a negative return on equity of 1.47%. Groupon’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.01) earnings per share. research analysts expect that Groupon will post -0.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TRADEMARK VIOLATION NOTICE: This story was first published by American Banking News and is the sole property of of American Banking News. If you are viewing this story on another site, it was illegally stolen and reposted in violation of U.S. and international copyright & trademark laws. The original version of this story can be read at https://www.americanbankingnews.com/2017/12/13/groupon-inc-grpn-sees-significant-growth-in-short-interest.html.

About Groupon

Groupon, Inc operates online local commerce marketplaces around the world that connect merchants to consumers by offering goods and services at a discount. The Company operates through three segments: North America, which represents the United States and Canada; EMEA, which consists of Europe, and the Middle East and Africa, and the remainder of its international operations (Rest of World).